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Thoughts on Rollie the Goalie Coach...


disisdayear

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Other than having spent 1997 to 2009 as the Canadiens as their goalie during which time Jose Theodore, Mathieu Garon, Jeff Hackett, Jocelyn Thibault, David Aebischer, Jaroslav Halak, Cristobal Huet and Carey Price, played for them, and having watched over Dwayne Roloson while he was in the AHL, there isn't much background on him as a coach.

I'm not really sold on Rollie as goalie coach...seems he's a pretty head strong guy and his methods basic (i.e., story in the Province recently citing he bungee corded Theo's catching hand because he thought Theo kept it too low).

With Luongo there was talk that he worked on him to play deeper in the crease and his lateral movements (which is valid because Luoong was getting beaten on the back door pass with ease) taking away Lu's tendency to challenge shooters aggressively (counter to what Luongo did in his first four years).

Based on Rollie's background, it seems he likes to take younger goalies and shape their techniques and tendencies (a young Theo, Halak, Huet and Price). Perhaps Schneider benefitted from Rollie whereas Luongo did not.

Does anyone have any insights on the role he had on the development of Theo, Thibault, Halak, Huet, Price and Roloson? What are the general thoughts on Rollie as the guy for guiding the on-going development of Schneider?

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"Other than 12 years as an NHL goalie coach, there isn't much background on him."

I paraphrased for emphasis, but seriously stop and listen to what that sounds like. It's like going into an interview and your prospective boss saying, "If you didn't have all those years of experience, you wouldn't have any at all."

Not to mention over a decade of NHL playing experience.

How much does anyone know about Ian Clark's training? Francois Allaire's? All you need to know is he's held a job long enough that he's not bad at it.

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Honestly, I bet that all we really know about Mel is what the media has told us.

If you believe what the media has told you about him, you already have your opinion and the bias that comes with it. A teacher teaches. He's had success with some goalies, he's had issues with Theodore. Ask any teacher at a university, or a high school. They've had student who learned well from them and they've had students who have not.

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I'm not really sold on Rollie as goalie coach...seems he's a pretty head strong guy and his methods basic (i.e., story in the Province recently citing he bungee corded Theo's catching hand because he thought Theo kept it too low).

With Luongo there was talk that he worked on him to play deeper in the crease and his lateral movements (which is valid because Luoong was getting beaten on the back door pass with ease) taking away Lu's tendency to challenge shooters aggressively (counter to what Luongo did in his first four years).

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If Luongo didn't feel like he was benefiting much from his goalie coach, I'm sure he would speak up. I would think Luongo is more important to the organization than the goalie coach, especially when he hasn't been here as long.

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Speaking of coaches; I've noticed that the longer a coaching staff is together the less likely a team is to win the cup. Most of the recent cup winners haven't had their new head coach for long. It seems like the longer a head coach hangs around (say after a year or two) the less likely he is to win the cup.

- Having said that I don't have the numbers to back it up.

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Speaking of coaches; I've noticed that the longer a coaching staff is together the less likely a team is to win the cup. Most of the recent cup winners haven't had their new head coach for long. It seems like the longer a head coach hangs around (say after a year or two) the less likely he is to win the cup.

- Having said that I don't have the numbers to back it up.

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Other than having spent 1997 to 2009 as the Canadiens as their goalie during which time Jose Theodore, Mathieu Garon, Jeff Hackett, Jocelyn Thibault, David Aebischer, Jaroslav Halak, Cristobal Huet and Carey Price, played for them, and having watched over Dwayne Roloson while he was in the AHL, there isn't much background on him as a coach.

I'm not really sold on Rollie as goalie coach...seems he's a pretty head strong guy and his methods basic (i.e., story in the Province recently citing he bungee corded Theo's catching hand because he thought Theo kept it too low).

With Luongo there was talk that he worked on him to play deeper in the crease and his lateral movements (which is valid because Luoong was getting beaten on the back door pass with ease) taking away Lu's tendency to challenge shooters aggressively (counter to what Luongo did in his first four years).

Based on Rollie's background, it seems he likes to take younger goalies and shape their techniques and tendencies (a young Theo, Halak, Huet and Price). Perhaps Schneider benefitted from Rollie whereas Luongo did not.

Does anyone have any insights on the role he had on the development of Theo, Thibault, Halak, Huet, Price and Roloson? What are the general thoughts on Rollie as the guy for guiding the on-going development of Schneider?

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I remember a couple of years ago when camp was in Penticton.

Of particular interest to me was how different Luongo and Schneider looked when doing basic drills.

In particular, that move where the inside knee goes down and the other stays tall up against the post to cover up short side shots from the corner.

It's funny. When I read your OP this is the first image that popped into my head.

Schneider looked totally solid. Almost robotic, when doing that drill. (Rollie would take shots from the corner or come around the net, skate out, then shoot from an angle)

I know some people are going to see this as me hating on Luongo, but I'm just reporting what I saw. Luongo doing the same drill looked loose and jangly... almost like he was struggling because his pads weren't strapped tight enough. It was like he was moving too much unnecessarily.

Take that for what it is....

My thoughts on Rollie? Well these are all professional players. They don't really need to be "taught" anything. Sometimes there is a bad habit that has developed due to some tendency, or a little tweak here and there that may be delivered as advice or a "hey try this" kind of thing.

IMO goalie "coaches" are less "coaches" and more "advisers"

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If Luongo didn't feel like he was benefiting much from his goalie coach, I'm sure he would speak up. I would think Luongo is more important to the organization than the goalie coach, especially when he hasn't been here as long.

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I remember a couple of years ago when camp was in Penticton.

Of particular interest to me was how different Luongo and Schneider looked when doing basic drills.

In particular, that move where the inside knee goes down and the other stays tall up against the post to cover up short side shots from the corner.

It's funny. When I read your OP this is the first image that popped into my head.

Schneider looked totally solid. Almost robotic, when doing that drill. (Rollie would take shots from the corner or come around the net, skate out, then shoot from an angle)

I know some people are going to see this as me hating on Luongo, but I'm just reporting what I saw. Luongo doing the same drill looked loose and jangly... almost like he was struggling because his pads weren't strapped tight enough. It was like he was moving too much unnecessarily.

Take that for what it is....

My thoughts on Rollie? Well these are all professional players. They don't really need to be "taught" anything. Sometimes there is a bad habit that has developed due to some tendency, or a little tweak here and there that may be delivered as advice or a "hey try this" kind of thing.

IMO goalie "coaches" are less "coaches" and more "advisers"

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smurf47 - knowing as little as I do about coaching goalies, I appreciate your first hand insight. From your first post and Darkpoets observations from the Penticton camp, I am developing a new-found appreciation for what Melanson has contributed (especially to the technical soundness of Schneider's play).

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I remember a couple of years ago when camp was in Penticton.

Of particular interest to me was how different Luongo and Schneider looked when doing basic drills.

In particular, that move where the inside knee goes down and the other stays tall up against the post to cover up short side shots from the corner.

It's funny. When I read your OP this is the first image that popped into my head.

Schneider looked totally solid. Almost robotic, when doing that drill. (Rollie would take shots from the corner or come around the net, skate out, then shoot from an angle)

I know some people are going to see this as me hating on Luongo, but I'm just reporting what I saw. Luongo doing the same drill looked loose and jangly... almost like he was struggling because his pads weren't strapped tight enough. It was like he was moving too much unnecessarily.

Take that for what it is....

My thoughts on Rollie? Well these are all professional players. They don't really need to be "taught" anything. Sometimes there is a bad habit that has developed due to some tendency, or a little tweak here and there that may be delivered as advice or a "hey try this" kind of thing.

IMO goalie "coaches" are less "coaches" and more "advisers"

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